It is the longest Italian river and goes through many important Italian towns, including Turin and Milan. In Milan it enters the town as a net of channels called navigli, creating a very characteristic area. Near the end of its course, it creates a wide delta (with hundreds of small channels and 5 main ones called Po di Maestra, Po della Pila, Po delle Tolle, Po di Gnocca and Po di Goro), at the southern part of which is Comacchio[?], an area famous for eels.

The vaste valley around the Po is called Pianura Padana and is so efficiently connected by the river that the whole valley became the main industrial area of the country.

This river is subject to the authority of a special magistrate (Magistrato delle Acque).